


Heroic Tendencies

by mrs_watson



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: M/M, passionate argument to passionate kissing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 00:30:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13155321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrs_watson/pseuds/mrs_watson
Summary: An ending to "Our Man Bashir" that will satisfy all that was left...unsatisfied.





	Heroic Tendencies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LaDemonessa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaDemonessa/gifts).



_Eddington to Bashir. We got them, Doctor. You can leave the holosuite now._

“Thank you,” Julian replied wearily, hands in his pockets. He cast a self-satisfied smirk at Garak, who was standing near him at the control panel, but soon realized he didn’t have the emotional energy to follow through with their usual conversational battle for dominance. Judging from the way Garak quickly averted his gaze, neither did the Cardassian.

“Interesting,” Garak articulated after a brief pause, the adrenaline still in his system heightening the tone and volume of his voice. “You saved the day by _destroying_ the world!”

“I bet they didn’t teach you that at the Obsidian Order,” Julian spoke as he wandered towards the tall, ornate windows of the villainous parlour.

Garak walked with him. “No. No, there was a _great_ deal they didn’t teach me.”

Julian leaned against the wall between the windows, his eyes wandering over the hideous carpet as he tried to process what had just transpired.

“Like the value of a good game of chance, or how indulging in fantasy keeps the mind creative,” Garak finished. His voice had settle once more to its usual airiness, emotive yet tender, a tone that had always puzzled Julian considering what could be inferred of Garak’s violent past.

But just as Julian knew Garak to be dangerous and manipulative, he also found him to be utterly captivating. _How can you think like this, Julian?! This man almost just killed the entire senior crew and your best friends just to save his own ass!_ Almost. Sisko, Kira, Dax, O’Brien, and Worf were all safe because of Julian, and yet it didn’t feel right. It all had just felt so... lucky. Where was the sense of relief he so desperately needed after this marathon on his nerves and wits?

Too tired for caring about keeping up his strong appearance, Julian slid down the wall onto the floor, stretching his arms out over his knees and letting his head gently lean back against the wall. He closed his eyes and tried to ground himself using all the different points of contact he had with the room, the back of his head and shoulders against the wall, his feet on the floor, as he attempted to settle his breathing. But the relentless, guilty energy still spun in his chest like a swarm of mosquitos.

“Doctor, are you quite alright?” Garak asked in surprise, looking down at the doctor on his left.

Julian’s focus was broken by Garak’s words, and so was his patience. He rapidly opened his eyes and fixed Garak with a piercing look and a frown.

“Of course I’m not alright!” he snapped with as much volume as he could muster. He rose to his feet, unsteady but determined to make Garak listen, despite the discomfort in his chest being caused by his emotions and, likely, his internal chemistry, re-equalizing after the whole ordeal.

The expression Garak wore matched the one from earlier, but this time, instead of being grazed by some projectile, it was if he had been hit dead on with the metaphorical bullet. He opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced as Julian stood facing him head on.

“Don’t even start,” Julian said with a growl. “This isn’t going to be like one of our little lunchtime arguments, so I don’t want to hear a peep out of you. I don’t care that this _all worked out_ , because I still don’t feel right! I can’t believe what you nearly put me through- losing my friends because of your cowardice!”

“What are you talking about?!” Garak hissed as he leaned back, increasing the space between them. Again, his voice had changed, matching the raw emotion Julian had felt in his own. “What happened to that little soliloquy of yours, when you used my exact words to describe how you’d learned the importance of knowing when to walk away?”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with what I’m talking about right now, but I didn’t just say those things to win this game.”

“For once, I thought you understood me.” There was exasperation in Garak’s voice, along with something unrecognizable, but nothing to stop Julian from unleashing what he had to say next.

“Stop it, Garak, you know that’s not true! You know there is no one else on this station who understands you better than me, and you me, _especially_ after today! So just listen to me. I’ve said this before, Garak, I may be a doctor, first and foremost, but I am also a soldier, someone who sacrificed his personal philosophy of causing harm so that those who are helpless can survive. When my friends were trapped in the pattern buffer, I had to fight against you as well as versions of them. You forced me to fight against you, in the caves, after Dax helped us escape. I thought I could stand toe to toe with you, like we always do, and win, but I didn’t know for sure. I more or less just hoped it, not really believing I could be strong enough to overthrow your defences, verbal or otherwise. But I won! It meant shooting you and, when I stop now for even a second to consider what you almost did by threatening to leave the holosuite, I knew I had to, but it doesn’t sit right in my conscience. How could you make me choose between them and you? It would have been the same as killing O’Brien right from the start, killing you, but I went against everything I felt and pulled the trigger on you.” He put his hands on his forehead and looked down, overwhelmed by his own anger and some kind of unnamable dread.

Garak was sputtering as he tried to find words, leaning into Julian, trying to catch his eye. “Do you… wish that you hadn’t missed?”

Julian suddenly looked up, the faintest traces of tears forming in his eyes. Shaking his head, he opened his mouth but all that left it was panicked breaths. Suddenly, Julian reached for Garak, clasping the Cardassian’s head between his hands and moving the two of them slightly closer as he stared into the blue alien eyes of his friend.

“Garak,” he managed with some difficulty, although his eyes stopped watering. “How could you think…” Garak took Julian’s arms and tried to pull them away, but, as his attempt was only half-hearted, he held onto to Julian’s forearms tenderly instead.

"Doctor, do I really mean that much to you?”

In response, Julian tilted his head and leaned forward to capture Garak’s mouth in a firm kiss. He held it there until he felt Garak’s hands release his arms and travel to his back, at which point he deepened the kiss. Guiding Garak to the wall while still locked in their kiss, Julian ran his hands up and down Garak’s chest and then down to his hips as he felt Garak’s own hands symmetrically explore his jaw, then his ears, before tangling and locking into his short hair.

Garak pulled away, eyes closed, just enough to manage, “Or are you just trying to demonstrate your heroic tendencies?”

Julian laughed loudly at the absurdity of it all, and pulled Garak closer to him so that they stood forehead to forehead (which caused Garak to humm pleasantly). “Surely, after all of that, you can see I’m not just trying to be a hero!”

“No, I suppose you’re right,” Garak replied, stealing a kiss as he cupped Julian’s face in his hands.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you before, but never as much as I wanted to do just then,” Julian said sheepishly. “And right after screaming my lungs out at you.”

“And baring your heart,” Garak said knowingly. “You probably aren’t aware of this, but it is Cardassian etiquette to, when courting, engage in heated discussion or argument.”

“I would say that qualifies as a bit more than a heated discussion,” Julian began amicably before realizing that, _wait…_

“A shouting match is ample foreplay for this kind of intimacy, especially if it was fueled by such reciprocal betrayal,” the way Garak almost savoured those last words made Julian shiver with a strange sensation of unease and attraction, “which I will not concede to apologize…”

“Garak, when you say heated discussion is like, what, flirting? Does that mean I’ve been flirting with you when we argue normally?”

Garak thought for a moment, trying to think of an acceptable answer. “Well, not always,” he settled for, tacking on a classic devious, toothless grin.

“I suppose it’s a good thing that I already try to flirt with you intentionally, then.”

“I’ve noticed,” Garak replied with some seduction, capturing another kiss before Julian could speak again.

“It’s quite something seeing you in a tuxedo.”

“Why, thank you, my dear! I must admit, despite it being by far the best thing I’ve ever seen you wear, I can’t wait to take you out of it.”

At his words, Julian froze. “Are you serious?” he said somewhat incredulously.

“Dead serious.”

“Oh my god,” Julian whispered, his voice infused with desire. Pressing Garak into the wall, he ground their bodies together and initiated a passionate kiss, diving his tongue into his friend’s mouth. Julian moaned as it was enthusiastically and expertly accepted, only regrettably pulling away after a minute and a half.

“Let’s get out of here. Would you like to lead the way or should I?”

Garak chuckled. “Thank you kindly, my young friend.” Letting go off Julian, Garak spoke triumphantly, “Computer, exit program!” The door way from where Worf had appeared as Mr. Duchamp changed into the familiar grey hue of their space station, and as it opened, the two tuxedo clad spies hurried through, grateful and with pulses still pounding.

 

**Author's Note:**

> While this chapter can stand alone, there will be another chapter following this that will chronicle what happens once Garak and Bashir have left the holosuite and arrive in Bashir's quarters...if you know what I mean...so expect that within the next week.
> 
> This fic is dedicated to LaDemonessa, who fics "Sinless","The Never Ending Sacrifice" and "Meditations on a Crimson Shadow" really helped get me through the last month and instilled in me a great love for this pairing.
> 
> Update, Jan 22: Lovely readers, I will deliver on my promise later than anticipated, as I have resumed classes at uni and things are pretty crazy. You can expect the next installment the week of Feb. 16th. Thank you again for your kudos and comments! If you have suggestions or requests for the direction of the next chapter, please let me know!


End file.
